William Raymond Hilliard ’49

BILL HILLIARD passed away in St. Joseph's Hospital, Lexington, Ky., July 1, 1990, of pancreatic cancer that had been diagnosed only four weeks earlier.

Bill was born Jan. 23, 1928 in Pittsburgh, and prepared for Princeton at St. Paul's. At Princeton he majored in mechanical engineering and was a member of ivy Club. After graduation in 1951, he enlisted in the U.S. Air Force, and served until Dec. 1953. He married Mary Suydam Edwards in 1951, and they subsequently had three children. In 1954 Bill joined a brokerage firm in Dayton, but left after a year to pursue his real interest, training harness horses, in Orlando.

By 1964 Bill was owner of the Futurity Hill Standard Bred Farm in Lexington, Ky., and in the late 1970s moved to Columbus, Oh., becoming executive V.P. of the U.S. Trotting Assn. His first marriage having ended in divorce, in 1972 Bill married Marion Walstead, who passed away six years later, and he continued to raise her two children.

In 1985 Bill returned to Lexington as director of the U.S. Polo Assn., retiring in 1987. On Aug. 2, 1986, he had married Melinda McEntee, mother of two, and they lived happily until his sudden illness and death. Bill founded Innovative Association Management in 1987.

Bill is survived by his widow, Melinda; sons William Jr. and Ogden; a daughter, Polly Fahs; stepdaughters Jami and Kristen Flora; Melinda's children, Patricia and Kelli Ryan; and his brothers, Thomas J. Hilliard Jr. '43 and Harry T. Hilliard '45. To all Bill's family we extend our heartfelt sympathy.

The Class of 1949